Coryn Rivera wins RideLondon Classique on the rain-soaked streets of the capital

The 2017 RideLondon Classique played out on rain-drenched roads, as the best road teams in women’s cycling took to the streets for the British leg of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.

Katie Archibald, riding for Team WNT, featured in the first two of the three intermediate sprints, while current world road race champion Amalie Dideriksen (Boels Dolmans) picked up the top points in the third sprint.

With two laps to go, the top teams looked dominant as they took order at the front of the peloton, as Canyon-SRAM, Boels Dolmans and Team Sunweb all looked to give their sprinters the perfect lead out.

It was Canyon-SRAM who looked to have the race sewn up as the riders entered the last kilometre but their protected rider, Britain’s Hannah Barnes, didn’t have the legs in the closing stages.

Instead the sprint came down to Barnes’ lead out rider, Lisa Brennauer, Lotta Lepisto (Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling) and Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) and it was Rivera’s explosive sprint, launching herself out from behind the wheels of the other two to power herself over the line to take the victory.

Rivera was delighted with the win on her first appearance on the London leg of the WorldTour: “I’m absolutely elated; it’s crazy, it’s raining, it’s not the best conditions,” she said.

“It was a chaotic finish - a lot of elbows - but you’ve got to keep on fighting to the end.

“I knew I was in the right place and I just had to time my sprint correctly - it was a very long sprint, it’s quite deceptive.

“I’m really excited to be here and that the organisers appreciates that we race just as hard as the men and it means a lot to me that they respect that.”

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